Car-brake



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

B. BEALS.

OAR BRAKE.

N0.-251,l65. Patented Dec. 20,1881..

(No ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. BEALS.

GAR BRAKE.

No. 251,165. Patented 1160.20.1881.

ma Wm By UNTTED STATES EBENEZER BEALS, OF NORWVIOH, NEW YORK.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,165, dated December20, 1881.

Application filed June 2, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EBENEZER BEALS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norwich, in the county of Ohenango and State of New York,have invented Improvements in Automatic Oar-Brakes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to automatic brakes operated by the pushing in ofthe draw-bar on checking the speed of the engine; and it consists indevices, hereinafter described, to effect an instantaneous applicationof the brakes by such pushing in of the draw-bar while the wheels are inmotion, and to prevent such effect from the thrust of the draw-bar whilethe wheels are at rest.

The invent-ion further relates to a device by which the automatic-brakeconnections can be severed or thrown out of gear by a winding chainoperated after the manner of the handbrake chains in common use.

The invention further relates to devices-by which the distance to whichthe shoes will re tire from the wheels when the brakes are released isautomatically limited, and any wear in the brake-shoes or in theconnections is automatically compensated for, and any slack occurring inthe connections is automatically taken up.

The invention also relates to certain details for carrying out myinvention, which details are hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsection of parts of a cartruck and the lower portion of a car-body withmy automatic-brake mechanism applied. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section ofthe same on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinalsection, illustrating the automatic take-up devices.

A represents a draw-bar or draw-head,which, on being pushed in, operateson the shorter end of a horizontal lever, 13, running transversely tothe car and fulcrumcd on a vertical pivot, b. The longer end of thelever operates on a pivoted block, D, hinged to a vertical arm, H,depending rigidly from a horizontal slide,

The pivoted block D is arranged to engage with a lug, c, at the forwardend of the brake-bar G in such a manner that when the (No model.)

connected arms H H are permitted to slide, as hereinafter described, thesaid pivoted block D will communicate motion to the brake-bar 0; but ifthe connected slide H H be held against longitudinal motion the pivotedblock D will simply turn on its axis, escaping the lug c and leaving thebrake-bar G at rest. The motion of the slide H H is determined by theforward movement of the wheel E by means of a governor consisting of abell-crank lever, G G, the vertical arm G of which is connected througha vertical slot-joint with the rear eX- tremity of the horizontal bar H,while the horizontal beam G is provided with a stop, F, pivoted to itand hanging over the top of the wheel E, said stop I being free toswing, so that the forward movement of the wheel E will remove it fromunder the arm G and permit the said arm to turn down on its fulcrum 0,when the slide H H is thrown forward by the thrust of the draw-barthrough the medium of the lever B and pivoted block I), as abovedescribed.

I is a spring fixed at one end to a lug or arm projecting downward fromthe pivoted block D, and at the other to a stationary part of theoar-frame, so as to tend to hold the block D in its retracted or normalposition. A vertical shaft, U, being the ordinary brakeshaft andprovided with a hand-wheel, U, is connected with a chain, T, passingover pulleys tand around a pulley, S, in the forward end of the pivotedblock D, for the purpose of turning said block up out of its normal oractive position when it is desired to render the brakes inoperative bythe pushing of the drawbar, as in the case of using a pusher-engine, orfor thepurposeot' takingoff the brakes, when necessary, in order tostraighten the train, or for any other reason. 7 i

To the draw-bar G is pivoted a rod, J, connected with the brake-leversin customary manner. Said levers and their connections and the shoes maybe of customary form.

1 prefer to introduce between the end of draw-bar A and the short arm oflever B a spring, W, through which the brake-power will be applied, saidspring thus serving to modify or limit the amount of pressure which canbe applied to the brake-shoes.

My invention as above described constitutes a simple, economical, andeffective brake' to be operated automatically by the pushing in of thedraw-bar; but lhave further devised a simple and effective means wherebythe slack in the brake-connections, occasioned by the wearing of theshoes or from any other cause, will be automatically taken up, and onreleasing of the brakes the shoes will be removed to adetermined anduniform distance from the wheels, irrespective of the wear of said shoesor their rubbers. To this end I make the brakebar, which is acted on bythe lever B through the medium of the pivoted block D, in two parts, 0O, as illustrated inFig. 3, with inclined or ratchet teeth 0, adapted tolock together, so that the bar 0, in its forward movement, will carrythe bar 0 with it, but may slide backward relatively thereto. The uppersurface of the bar Cis alsoformed with ratchet-teeth 0, presentedbackward, and the two bars are embraced or encircled by the collar K,with an oblong aperture through which the bars may pass, at the upperend of which aperture are teeth It, adapted to engage with the teeth 0011 the upper surface of the bar 0.

L is a spring, bearing upward against the bottom of the bar 0 anddownward against the collar K, so as to draw the bars 0 O together andcause them to lock.

M 1W1 represent stationary abutments, which limit the movement of thecollar K. The forward end of the bar C is supported in the fixed hangerR.

U is a small pin in the bar 0, behind the arm V of the block D, for thepurpose of cans ing the spring I, in pulling back the block D, to pullthe bar 0 back with it. Said spring must be of sufficient strength toshove the toothed bar 0 through the collar K whenever there is slackenough to take up one tooth of the rack.

N is a standard rigidly fastened to the lower transom of the car-truckand connected to the upper transom by abolt, a, passing through avertical slot in said standard. The upper end of the vertical standard Ncarries the fulcrumpin of the L-shaped lever G G, and the upper end, G",of said lever also has a vertical slot, within which the forward end ofthe slide H is "'pivoted, so as to permit the vertical motion (due tothe compression of the car-springs P) of the slide H H, which is carriedby the carbody relatively to the lever-arm G, which is carried by thetruck.

The operation of my invention in its complete form is as follows: Thedraw-head A, on beingpressed in, moves the lever B, which communicatesits motion to the toothed bar 0, through the intervention of the pivotedblock D, which is carried with it, if the wheel E of the car is inmotion, so as to throw the swinging stop F out from under thelever-armG, to which it is pivoted, and allow said arm G to drop when the arm Gis pulled forward by the slide H H, to which the block D is pivoted butshould the wheels of the car be at rest the stop F will stand straightup under the lever G and prevent the movement of the slide H H, in whichcase the lever B simply swings the block D on its pivot out from behindthe lug c on the end of the toothed bar 0, without moving the said bar 0or applying the brakes.

The action of the divided toothed bars 0 C" and the connecting-collar Kin taking up lost motion and compensating for wear of shoes or otherparts is as follows: When the draw-bar is drawn forward the collar Kmoves with it until it comes in contact with the fixed hanger M, whichstops the collar K and allows the bars 0 C to draw through the saidcollar by sliding up the incline of the teetha movement which ispermitted by the compression of the spring L at the bottom of saidcollar. Now when the draw-head pulls out and releases the lever B thebrakes can only fall off to a distance represented by that between thecollar K and the fixed hanger M, which hanger arrests the backwardmotion of the collar K, and consequently of the bars 0 G. Hence it isimmaterial to the effectiveness of the brake how much the shoes may beworn, as they can in any case only fall off to a determined and uniformdistance from the face of the wheels. On each release of the brakes thespring I draws the pivoted block D back into its place, and if there isslack amounting to the length of one tooth of the bars 0 O the bar 0will be slid back past the bar 0, so as to take up such slack.

Havingthus described my invention, the following is .what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination, with the draw-bar A, of lever B, pivoted block D,and toothed bar 0, for communicating power to the brakes from themovement of the draw-bar.

2. The combination of the elbow-lever G G and swinging stop F with theslide H H, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the slide H H, of the pivoted block D andspiral spring I, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination of the toothed bars 0 and C, toothed collar K, andabutments M M, for automatically regulating the distance to which thebrake-shoes will move from the wheels when released.

5. The combination,with the toothed bars 0 G, abutments M M, and toothedcollar K, of the spring I, for automatically taking up the slack of thebrake-connections when released.

6. The combination of the standard N, lever G G, and slide H H, withslot-connections, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7; The combination of the slide H, lever G G,pivoted block D, and stopF, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

, EBENEZER BEALS.

Witnesses:

Iavnve R. CLARK, '0. DENsLoW.

